THE colour of medal around her neck is yet to be decided, but there will be no doubt about the eye-catching hue of her hair when Katie Archibald takes to the track on Friday:

a patriotic blue and white. The Scottish cyclist debuted her new look at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow yesterday afternoon. "I'm hoping it'll still be there come the Commonwealth Games because half of it is on my pillow," she joked.

Archibald will be in action in individual pursuit on Friday with the scratch race a day later and the points race on Sunday, before she then switches her attention to the road events. "The individual pursuit on Friday is my big target," she said. "I can specifically train for myself and don't have to think about things like in a bunch race where things happen you may not be able to do anything about, like crashes or people doing strange stuff.

"I'll let my mind open up to the points race once we've finished with the pursuit. The scratch race will be a good leg opener, the adjustment to the bounce, see how everyone is riding. Then be ready to hit it as it were for the points race."

The 20-year-old from Milngavie, a reigning world and European team pursuit champion, was upbeat and appeared to be taking the prospect of five medal chances in her stride. "The closer you get to competition the higher the peaks and troughs are in terms of your mentality. You'll have a really good day and be flying," she said.

"This morning I had a really good session, I feel really positive and I'm convinced nothing is ever going to bring me down. Equally it means the lows are pretty low because of the stress that's with it. You can only focus on the process, that's the line that gets bashed around. That's what I'm doing and so far every step has gone pretty well."

That does not mean Archibald is taking the enormity of the occasion lightly, of course. "It's the biggest event of my life - it's a home Games," she said. "It's my first inter-sport event. I've had a few sleepless nights, but I'm not going to come out with tears in my eyes."

Hopefully another trip to the hairdressers will in order before the Games are over: next stop gold.

Meanwhile, Grant Ferguson yesterday defended his title at the 2014 British National Mountain Bike Cross-Country Championships at Hopton Woods, Shropshire. The Scot held off the challenge of five-time British champion Liam Killeen to take the win in the elite men's race, with Paul Oldham finishing third.

Kerry MacPhee took silver in the elite women's race, the 28-year-old from the Hebrides pipped to first place by two-time senior British champion Annie Last. Another Scot, Jessie Roberts, took bronze.

Defending champion Lee Craigie, who won in her hometown of Glasgow last year, had pulled out after injuring her calf in a fall during the warm-up.

She later acknowledged that it was safer to retire to ensure her fitness for the Commonwealth Games on July 29. Young Scottish mountain bike talent Isla Short won the junior women's race.